Aug 23
 |
Meander – Map MaximizerNormally $19.99 |
| Click to MacZOT | Download and try it now |
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Meander plots points, plans routes and measures distances using any map, including maps you’ve scanned or those you’ve found on the web. Save your routes for later. Export or print and share them with others.
Meander includes these Key Features:
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August 24th, 2006 at 12:27 am
Hmmm, that wasn’t there earlier … “MacZOT Trial Price Very Limited Quanitty”
August 24th, 2006 at 12:33 am
… hmmm, I guess it was a ploy to get me to buy cause it’s gone now ;) :P
August 24th, 2006 at 12:49 am
This looks great, not for me though…
August 24th, 2006 at 12:58 am
I don’t mean to knock the app — maybe I’m missing something — but, Google Maps mixed with CMD+Shift+3 plus a little cropping will produce the same results, right?
August 24th, 2006 at 1:00 am
I like it.
Google and Yahoo maps only give *driving* distances and directions.
This thing lets you plot a walking plan that allows you to walk on the “wrong way” on one-way streets, cut across vacant lots, etc. This means you can get really accurate walking distances.
You don’t get “Directions”, but you should be able to follow your one course from the jpeg. Then put it on your PDA and you’re golden.
I could have used this last year, and I’ll use it this year. Very well done. $20 is way too much for the use I’ll get, but $6 is almost right.
I’m in.
August 24th, 2006 at 1:40 am
Or you can use something like http://www.mapmyrun.com/ or http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ to do the same thing.
August 24th, 2006 at 5:45 am
Actually the newest version of Google Earth does exactly the same thing, you can plot distances on any path that you draw using the tool, I use it all the time to plot running paths. And yeah, it’s super easy to take a screenshot of your path and save it…
August 24th, 2006 at 6:15 am
This is pretty cool! I couldn’t tell how it was going to work just by looking at the MacZot description. So, I downloaded and tried it! Although I wouldn’t use it on a regular basis, it’s really well done! I’ve actually been wanting this capability to be built into online maps, like Google Maps.
August 24th, 2006 at 6:26 am
Cool. I just saw this program for the first time on versiontracker yesterday. $6 seems very reasonable.
August 24th, 2006 at 7:09 am
Typo Police! You need to fix “Downlod” … or else.
August 24th, 2006 at 7:11 am
Would be better if I actually had maps to use it with…
August 24th, 2006 at 7:21 am
Let me get this straight: I have to scan in maps, find out their ratio, and then import them into Meander to actually measure the distance??? Gosh, what about ease of use? If this would access maps from Google and other sources such as MapQuest I’d be in… much room for improvement for version 2.
August 24th, 2006 at 7:30 am
you’re joking, right?
August 24th, 2006 at 7:57 am
Well I think you can plot your way like that on map24, for free.
August 24th, 2006 at 8:28 am
With Meander you can pull up ANY map on your display, whether it is on the web or scanned, and use the overlay to figure out the distance of a route. You just need to be able to set the scale. It seems like a very nice program and $5.99 is a good price. However, it appears that Trailrunner does the same thing and is currently free. You do have to copy the map into Trailrunner before plotting and measuring your route so Meander is easier to use. That will be worth $5.99 to many people.
August 24th, 2006 at 9:06 am
Also Trailrunner says “it will become shareware”, “each version works for three months” and “suggested donation 21 Euros”
I’m not going for the opposition, nor denigrating it. Nor am I going for this. After all, I know what it is so where’s the fun in that?
Myztery, DevZot and “AppZapper2″ here I go again!
August 24th, 2006 at 11:05 am
If you just want to plot distances on a map, Google Earth is the best thing I’ve found, I use it to figure out running routes all the time.
August 24th, 2006 at 12:10 pm
Just tried it, and it’s one of those “wish I had one of these earlier” programs. Nice idea, very well implemented, though it lacks some (what I consider to be) fairly necessary tools and customizing options.
All in all though, if you have a use for it (or people who don’t understand directions), it’s a very useful looking program, and probably worth the price. Especially a Zot price.
August 24th, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Hello
Trailrunner and Meander are similar, but for me different enough to have both.
I use Trailrunner for runs, hikes, and bike rides, whereas I can see the utility of Meander for quick distance figures using webmaps et al. The acetate implementation is ingenious, and worth $6. The list price of $20 is a bit high at the moment for my limited use, but at $6, it will be a nice tool to have on hand.
August 24th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
Addendum:
I have been playing with it for a little while and there are a few ‘small’ features that I would like to see added:
1) Export Jpeg: Allow total distance to be imprinted on the map with route
2) Export Jpeg: Allow distance in-between triangles to be imprinted on the map with route (also have it on the route saved, in general)
3) Export Jpeg: Allow title of route to be imprinted on the map
4) Acetate / Export Jpeg: Directional arrows
5) Acetate / Export Jpeg: Text boxes so that comments may be added (e.g., watch for road construction here!)
For all the above: Allow some flexibility with positioning of characters by user, as well as font size and style.
I am assuming that the developer is monitoring MacZot, they tend to do so. ;)
August 24th, 2006 at 1:54 pm
Just tried it myself. The wife and I visited San Francisco last month, and did a LOT of walking around the city while we were there. I just plotted some of our adventures using Google maps… very easy, and interesting to see just how many miles we walked. (No wonder my feet were so sore every evening!)
Anyway, not sure how much practical use I’ll get out of this, but it’s fun and easy to use, well done, and the price is certainly nice. So, I sprang for a license. Haven’t bought anything on macZOT! yet this week, so what the heck! And it’s good for the Mac community to support small developers.
If you haven’t tried it out yet, I suggest you give it a whirl.
August 24th, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Hmm. I made a nice comment about this app this morning, but it’s no longer there. Strange. Anyway, you have to download and try it to see how it works. It’s a great idea and well implemented.
August 24th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Cool idea – I think there was an application that did something like this on the Mac 512 (didn’t support transparency) but I remember the stretchable ruler..
Am I missing something – the Command-Option T – brings up the character pallet but there is no way to include any text (or font graphic) on the acetate ? No way to type anything either… So to add any annotation to my “route”, I need to edit the jpg/pdf I export… Nothing on this in the docs… From what I can see this is not universal and not cocoa.. If one cannot annotate their route directly, and has to use an external program – one might as well paste in a screen capture in their external program.. Is there a way to annotate a route in Meander?
August 24th, 2006 at 6:40 pm
Just tried it out and I’m buying it. Wouldn’t have bought it at the full price though. I did the whole exercise manually yesterday to compare a couple of cycle routes.
Would be nice to have more than one route on the map though. Especially for printing out.
August 25th, 2006 at 9:22 am
Thanks, folks. I’m really grateful for all of the suggestions here (some are already in hand for the next release – look out for updates). Yes, it is cocoa and UB.